About Arlene Schulman Expertise As a professional director, dramaturg, acting coach and actor for over 25 years in the NYC/NJ area, I can help with questions on acting technique, character development, audition and rehearsal techniques, dealing with directors and stage managers, what directors are looking for, and other aspects of the acting and directing professions.
Experience A professional director, dramaturg, acting coach and actor for over 25 years in the NYC/NJ area, I have directed in professional, university and amateur theatre and have directed and acted in dramas, comedies, musicals, Shakespeare as well as collaborating closely with playwrights in the development of original plays and musicals.
Organizations SSDC associate member Advisory Board - Isle of Shoals Productions Literary Managers and Dramaturgs of America associate member Shakespeare Association of America The Shakespesare Institute -
MA "Shakespeare & Theatre" candidate, Stratford-upon-Avon, UK
I'm a Junior in college in Washington D.C. and am looking for acting classes;
preferably private. I did acting, singing, dancing, and modeling my whole life
where I grew up in Miami. I was in many school plays and did some
commercials. I stopped in high-school because we had to choose a
concentration for our elective and I chose art because I didn't love the drama
teacher and I also love art. I really want to get back into acting. Something is
missing in my life and I feel like this is it. I saw in one of your responses to
someone that you have a good friend that has an excellent acting school in
Washington D.C. What is the name of it? Can you recommend any coaches
there or in the area? I am studying Fashion Merchandising and Marketing
and am also looking for an internship this summer for either of those two in
New York or LA for my major, and want to find an acting school or class for
this Summer in one of those two places. My heart is leaning towards LA. Can
you recommend any summer programs? How do talent agencies work and
how do I find one? Thank you for all of your help. Hope to hear from you
soon!
Cristina
Answer Hi Cristina,
Many actors study something else in college and then move on to or return to acting after they graduate. That's why there are so many acting schools and private acting classes around.
My friend in DC is Robert Epstein. You can find his website at www.completeactorstraining.com/index.html. His school is Meisner based, with a basic and advanced program and individual classes (I believe). If you contact him, tell him Arlene Schulman recommended him.
Unfortunately I'm in the NYC/NJ area, not Washington, DC, so other than Robert I'm really not familiar with any other teachers or coaches in that area. But I'm sure that if you contact Robert, and you don't feel that his school is right for you, he'll be happy to recommend other people in the area that might be more to your taste.
As for internships in NYC, I'm really not familiar with the fashion industry so I have no knowledge of what might be available either there or in LA.
As for talent agents... while technically actors employ agents, in reality it is mostly the agents who choose which actors they want to represent. Agents don't get paid by actors - they earn a percentage of the income their clients make from jobs they get them. Therefore they are very selective about who they will take on as clients - they are only interested in actors who they feel are sure to get cast, who have a proven history of work, high recommendations, a good resume and good training, and, most of all, whose work they have personally seen or who have been recommended to them by industry professionals who they know and trust. So ideally, the way to attract an agent is to send out your professional headshot and resume to agents you are interested in. They will file them. Then, when you are cast in a show, send out postcards to those agents inviting them to your performances (comped, of course) so that they can see your work in person. Naturally agents get hundreds of submissions and invitations and not all the agents you invite will come (sometimes none), but occasional one will and if they like what they see and feel you have the potential and that they will be able to "sell" you, they might approach you to represent you. Very occasionally something about your headshot or resume might spark something in an agent, who might ask you to come in an audition or for an interview. Even less occaionally they might have a role sitting in front of them when your headshot comes in. I know exceptionally talented, experienced, well-trained actors who have been working for years without attracting an agent. I know others who got one very quickly. It's all about being in the right place at the right time. Luck and networking. I realize this is a very imprecise system, but that's the way it works.
